LITERATURE.-Sprenger, Das Leben u. die Lehre des Mohammad, 3 vols. 1861-65. Weil, Muhammed der Prophet, sein Leben u. seine Lehre, 1843. Nöldeke, in Herzog's Real-Encyc., Muhamed u. der Islam, and his Geschichte des Qoráns, 1860. Das Leben Muhameds, nach Quellen populär dargestellt, Hannover, 1863. Döllinger, Mohammeds Religion nach ihrer inneren Entwicklung u. ihrem Einfluss auf das Leben der Völker, 1838. Möhler, Wie verhält sich nach dem Koran Jesus Christus zu Muhamed? Tüb. Quartalschrift, 1830, 1. Gerok, Christologie des Koran, 1839. Pfleiderer, Religionsphilosophie, 1878, pp. 641, 727. (He calls Mohammedanism a religion of law still fettered by national Particularism.) Taylor, History of Muhamedanism, 1842. Muir, The Life of Mahomed, 4 vols., London, 1861. Kremer, Geschichte der herrschenden Ideen des Islam, 1868. Osiander, Studien über die vorislamitische Religion der Araber; Zeitschrift der morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 1853. Dillmann, Rectoratsrede über den Islam, 1876. Bluntschli, Staatswörterbuch-Muhammed u. Muhammedanisches Staatsrecht. J. M. Arnold, Der Islam nach Geschichte, Charakter u. Beziehung zum Christenthum, 1878. 1. Mohammedanism cannot lay claim to giving anything higher than Christianity or even than the Hebrew religion, but on account of its impure moral contents stands lower than both. Even if we disregard the impurity of the founder's character, which more than throws suspicion on his faith in his divine mission and infallibility, the incongruity between his claim to be the Paraclete sent to establish a religion of eternal validity on the one hand, and his personal qualities as well as the import of his teaching on the other, is evidence against Mohammed. He declared himself called by the Holy Spirit, his words were divine thoughts existing eternally in God. Hence the Koran is said to be "uncreated." Nevertheless, he himself altered many of the revelations first published, and again repealed them, alleging as a partial excuse that Satan suggested them to him.1 But Mohammedanism itself lacks originality. It professes to recognize and unite Judaism and Christianity, assigns to Christ a 1 According to Sprenger, II. 9 ff., Mohammed once even relapsed into heathenism. He was willing to approve the Arabian deities Lat, Oza, Manâh, as secondary goddesses, if the worshippers would acknowledge him. He also continued and adopted into his religion heathen ceremonies. Along with angels, demons resembling human beings (Genii) play a prominent part. high position as a Reformer of Judaism,' accepts His virginbirth and Ascension, and even holds the doctrine of His Second Coming. But Mohammedanism itself yields no new religious truth, merely recurring to the simplest elements which seem to it to constitute primitive religion, and that in such a way as to extirpate the germs of development lying in these elements, which thus themselves undergo alteration. The best there is in it is borrowed from the Hebrew and Christian religions, while it passes by and corrupts the best in both. As concerns Christianity, under pretence of purifying it from polytheism it opposes the Trinity and Incarnation, preaches the meritoriousness of works, especially of prayers (the law is to pray five times a-day), and war against unbelievers, and denies the Crucifixion, the Christian dogma of atonement and justifying grace. In the same way it denies the Messianic idea, which even modern Judaism partially retains. Of both religions, therefore, it rejects the most essential parts. The Trinity, which through the fault of the Christendom of that age and neighbourhood it knows only in the form of God, Christ, Mary, is opposed to its rigid monotheism, which leaves nothing but a monotonous, lifeless relation to the world. This dead relation is interrupted by Mohammed's supernatural call and the celestial origin of the Koran, but it receives thoroughgoing sanction in Mohammedan fatalism. His fundamental thought and fundamental religious sentiment is: "Great is Allah!" With him God's might and majesty are uppermost, the consequence being an idea of God in its essence merely physical in form. For although God as Lord reveals His will through Mohammed, still for him God's innermost nature is neither holiness nor love. Hence pure moral knowledge is also wanting. This is evinced even in his very influential eschatology. The judgment and helltorments, as well as the blissful kingdom of believers, are depicted in sensuous colours. Observation.-The Gabarites in Persia teach a mystic Determinism; and Sufism is pantheistic Mysticism, joining on to the physical idea of God. The Motazilim, moral Rationalists, Indeterminists, form a reaction against Fatalism. 2. According to what was advanced above (§ 62), he who 1 C. F. Gerok, ut supra. is to be the founder of the absolute religion must embody perfectly the unity of God and man, and thus be God-man absolutely. That Mohammed belongs to one of the subordinate religious stages, is shown by the fact that he does not even claim to be God-man. This connection of Mohammedanism with previous religious stages is again shown, first, by its deficiency in inner universalism, although by the instrumentality of fanaticism and external force it aims at universal extension. The servant-form of the good man is opposed to its Eudæmonism. Under this aspect, in the capacity of an In "esthetic" religion, it belongs to the religions of Nature. the second place, the connection of the State and its power with religion is essential to it. The successor of the Prophet, the Caliph, to the orthodox Sunnite is priest and king at once, and only limited by the interpreters of the Koran, who are both theologians and jurists. This interlacing with the State not merely prevents the development of the State, which is bound for ever to follow the laws given it 1200 years ago, but also menaces religion with destruction, in case the State falls. For if this takes place, Mohammedanism cannot, like Judaism after its incorporation with the State had ceased, fall back upon an inner unity through the Messianic hope; but Mohammed professes to be the last prophet, and the Koran presupposes victory over unbelievers. Supposing, therefore, this religion, which is not adapted to a servant-form, to lose its material basis, confidence must be alienated from it. But, further, in its cultus and rules of life Mohammedanism has not kept itself free from limitations and customs which suggest the Arabian nationality and locality. The Kaaba in Mecca is the place especially worthy of God, and the worshipper must everywhere turn towards it. Further, here come in the permission of polygamy, slavery, the prohibition of wine. Blood-revenge also is merely limited. In conversion to Islam by fire and sword it finds nothing contrary to religion. To speak generally, it suffers beyond hope of cure from internal barrenness and incapacity for internal progress and development, the fault of which in a religious. respect rests on the rigid simplicity of its idea of God, in a moral respect on the corruption of the very bases of a genuine human existence-marriage and the family. We are thus justified in calling this religion, stripped as it is of original spiritual truth, of a living idea of God, of prophecy and the idea of incarnation, in brief of everything which forms the soul of the religious historic process-a mere after-birth of unbelieving Judaism. In Mohammed appeared the Messiah, whose aim was universal empire, such as was longed for by the Judaism that rejected Christ. 3. However unfavourable must be our judgment of Mohammedanism in itself in comparison with the Hebrew religion and Christianity, our view of it assumes a more favourable form in comparison with the heathenism previously existing in the countries of Asia and Africa, where it found, and to some extent still finds, very rapid extension. In this way also we understand approximately what is the meaning of its appearance in history. Even after the advent of the perfect religion, side by side with the latter the preparation for it must still continue; for its universal diffusion is conditioned by the previous formation of receptiveness for it, and can only take place historically and gradually by means of human agency. This preparation of heathen masses for the perfect religion where the influences of the latter have not yet penetrated, is furthered by the appearance of Mohammedanism; and in this way at any rate is brought about an advance from Fetishism and idolatry to a sort of monotheism and a system of law, by whose means the dissolving human consciousness of numerous tribes is again knit together and led in a higher direction. The mission, fulfilled by Hebrew monotheism in the centuries before Christ and in its colonies, Mohammedanism continues, more imperfectly indeed, but in far more comprehensive extent and in a form more practicable to numerous nations, because it allows the nationalities to subsist, whereas the Jewish proselyte had to renounce his nationality. No doubt Mohammedanism exerts a pernicious and restrictive influence in regions which the Christian Church already occupies or was on the point of occupying. But, by the judgment which it was ordained to inflict on a great portion of the Church, it has been compelled to serve a useful purpose in warning the Church against the heathen elements which it had again permitted to intrude. In the conflict with it, the Church, in order to gain the mastery, has been compelled to contend against the impurities within its own borders, and to put in exercise its innate powers and weapons. In accordance with all this, Mohammedanism, however hostile its attitude to Christianity, can only be regarded as a religion which, standing below Christianity as to its import, is ordained reluctantly to minister to Christianity in its historical course. SECOND SUBDIVISION. RELIGION AND REVELATION IN THEIR HISTORICAL CONSUMMATION. § 70. Christianity is the higher unity, and thus the end, of heathenism and Judaism, through its fundamental idea and fundamental fact-the absolute divine Incarnation in Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, the source of which is the God-man and the aim the realization of the kingdom of God. The consummation of religion and revelation has proved itself to be a historical fact in Jesus of Nazareth, through His holy personality, His witness to Himself and His work, namely, the transformation of those of mankind who are penetrated by His influence. And in the same way, to every one who believes in Him He proves Himself perpetually the all-sufficient Redeemer and Perfecter. 1. That Christianity furnishes the solution of the enigma of pre-Christian humanity and the satisfaction of its longing, is incontestable. This follows from the great fact that the greatest schism among mankind-that between heathens and Jews-has been done away in Him, both, when they accepted Christianity, finding in Him the truth they sought. In this way the expectation is justified by anticipation that Christianity, which has mastered such deeply-penetrating antitheses by means of internal union, will be able, without needing any improvement in itself, to prevail over the differences emerging |